Whats wrong? (pictures)

[Christypie]

I love plants ( I have about 20 ) but this is my very first Orchid and I have NO knowledge of them. It was a gift. Ok, so here is the info.

Im in Michigan. The plant is by a southern window with semi transparent panels (my other low/med light no direct sun plants do awesome here). The directions it came with said 3 ice cubes a week. It HAD buds on it, about 4. Those all fell off after a week. The moss or whatever that is is dry before I put new ice cubes. Two smaller leaves under the large ones turned yellow and fell off. And the crown (Im assuming from my knowledge of strawberries) is getting dried up, crispy, and gray. And the roots are green, and a couple are dead. Heres the pics. Sorry if they are blurry, camera phone.

[caseydoll]

Hello and welcome to Orchid Board! I'm from Michigan too, Houghton Lake to be exact. I'm at work right now so I don't have a lot of time to respond but I'm sure that others will be able to help you. I did want to say is to stop doing the ice cube thing. Even though the instructions said to do that I would stop right away. Orchid roots do not appreciate water that cold and it's not near enough water for it. The moss that it's in should really be replaced but for now I would give it a drink from the sink. Lukewarm water is best. Let the water run through until the medium is saturated being careful not to get water in the crown. If you do dry it off. I'm sure others will chime in as well and give you better advice.

[caseydoll]

I also wanted to add (since I'm home now ) that the bud drop is probably just caused by the stress of it being in a new location. But a decrease in water could do that too. I think it mainly just needs a good watering and then you might want to look into repotting it. Old sphag tends to hold a lot of moisure for too long. From the looks of it it probably is due for a change. Otherwise I think that it looks healthy and seems to have some nice green roots.

[Judi]

Looks like you have a phalenopsis, and a very pretty one at that ! Funny about the ice cubes, I never heard of it until just recently here on the orchid board. Can't say it makes sense to me . Anyway, Phals don't like to be wet, but they also shouldn't be bone dry. I also wonder if the pot has suficient drainage--personally I like the plastic pots with slits in the sides as well as drainage holes in the bottom--if the plant is too heavy, I put it in a larger orchid clay pot. I like to use phal planting medium that was soaked in K-L-N (a rooting stimulant) before repotting. Here are two sites with good info and pictures on how to repot your phal: Orchid Repotting Clinic - Phalaenopsis and Easy Orchids - Re Potting A Phalaenopsis It's hard to say how often you should water--it all depends on the planting medium, humidity, etc. I water about once a week--more in the winter if the fireplace has been on--and less in the summer in the rainy period. Hope this helps.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Don't worry about the new leaf turning yellow and dying, yet... The meristem (the "heart" of the plant) inside the crown is probably still alive and may produce a side shoot or a new leaf. Usually when the new leaf dies, the plant is doomed (not always). I would not use moss as a potting medium for Phalaenopsis, they stay too wet for too long and will rot the roots out. If you're going to pot them, use large grade fir bark. When you remove the moss from the roots, you may see dead roots. I would remove as much of that as possible without damaging the living roots. The living roots on your plant are dormant (they're not growing). Root tips should be bright green, olive green, or reddish brown with olive green when they're healthy and actively growing. Bud drop usually results from stress of being moved to a new environment, repotting while the plant is in bloom, or rapid change in temperature.

Hope this helps.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Another alternative is to mount the orchid onto a piece of wood. If you do, put the plant on the wood first. It'd be easier to position the roots safely if they were soaked wet (roots are pliable when wet). The base of the plant should be flush against the wood. The leaves should droop downward, (in other words when you hang the wood against a wall or something and you look at the plant head on, the leaves should form an upside-down "V"). Then cover the roots with New Zealand Sphagnum Moss, and tie moss and the roots of the plant against the wood with fishing line or twisty wire.